Saturday, January 28, 2012

You know the best item to purchase for kitchen during thanks giving is Crock pot, I got it just for $10 and now it is $29. Though I did not have any idea how to use it, I just got it to experiment. When I told about this slow cooker to my mom, she immediately told me to make this biryani. She also said that in good olden days they used to prepare this way. The process of cooking slow makes the masala flavors in the curry to slowly diffuse in to the rice and gives a very unique and delicious flavor. CLICK HERE TO VIEW CALORIE CHART

IngredeintsFor marination:1 Kg or 2.2lb chicken(boneless or with bones)

4 tablespoons vegetable oil ( I prefer soybean oil)

2 large onions, chopped longitudinally and fried to golden brown with little oil.

2 tablespoon of gingergarlic paste

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablepoon chili powder(Depending on the heat you require, this gives mild heat)

Cut the chicken in to medium size pieces, remove extra fat and wash it. Squeeze out all water in the chicken and take it in a bowl. Now add all the marinating ingredients mentioned above into the chicken and mix well. Keep this mixture in a refrigerator for about 30min to 24hrs. During marination all the juices and spices will enter into the inner portions of the meat and gives it a nice flavor. The longer you keep for the best the biryani tastes. So, you can marinate the day before you cook for better taste or else you can just marinate for 30min if you need to cook fast.

Wash and cook the rice till they are 70% done, by adding salt to taste vegetable oil. When the rice is ready, filter water and keep rice aside. Turn on the crock pot and set it to high, and arrange marinated chicken as a layer in the bottom and add rice on the top. On top of it, add fried onions, little pudina and coriander/cilantro and add some oil, and little color on top. Close witha lid and Cook under high flame for 3hrs and slow flame for 1hr. Check in between to see whether chicken is cooked properly. Also check before you serve and cook for few more minutes if it is not done. Serve hot with raita or sprinke little lemon juice.

Hope you like my recipe, please feel free to post your comments. They are very valuable for me, you can even subscribe by e-mail to my blog, the recipes will reach your inbox. ThanX for visiting my space. Please bookmark it to visit/ remember again.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Cauliflower is my all time favorite vegetable. When ever I'm tired or not in a mood to cook, I'll put cauliflower in my refrigerator to work. It is because it cooks fast and tastes wonderful. I personally like cauliflower manchuria very much, since it is a deep fried food I prepare it occasionally. My hubby who is not a big fan of manchuria also began to like this recipe. Now coming to the cauliflower masala recipe, this is for those people who started practising vegetarianism and carve for non vegetarian flavors. It is a rich flavorful and spicy curry prepared almost in a similar way you prepare chicken curry in Indian style.CLICK HERE TO VIEW CALORIE CHART

Method:
Heat 4tbsp of oil in pot/thick bottom non stick pan. Add onion and green chili and saute them till they are nice and transparent. Then add turmeric, ginger garlic paste, coriander seeds grind mixture, garam masala, red chili powder and mix well. Cook till the raw smell of ginger garlic paste goes away. Now add the cauliflower and green peas and mix well. Add 1cup of water and mix well. Cook this mixture under high flame for 10min and medium flame for 10 min while stirring in between. Then add tomatoes, yogurt and salt. Mix well and cook under medium flame till all chicken is well cooked. Check for taste and adjust it. If it is too spicy then add 2tbsp of lemon jucie. Finally garnish with cilantro and serve hot with bagara/pulav/rice/roti. Hope you like my recipe.

These real comments and real reviews are the one we bloggers crave for. I really appreciate the idea of Kristein to take 100 recipes from different blogs and reviewing them and I wish her all the best.CLICK HERE TO VIEW CALORIE CHART

Monday, January 23, 2012

My grand mother used to prepare this curry specially for my dad. Natu kodi means " Village Chicken" in English. Compared to the broiler this chicken has the unique and strong flavor. When you make this curry smell of it will reach all the houses at your street. She used to prepare this curry in mud pots and they are known as "Matti Kundalu" in our regional language Telugu. The curry cooked in these pots makes this curry even more flavorful. This curry is specially prepared in the villages for "Sankrathi". Sankrathi is the Harvest festival celebrated in some parts of India. During this festival, women in the house will make a very colorful rangoli in front of their house, men will fly kites and in villages "Kodi pandam" means "Chicken Fights" and "Edla Pandalu" means " Bullock Races". And lots and lots of food varities.

Method:
Clean the chicken by trimming extra fat and removing skin. Make deep cuts on all sides of the chicken drum sticks if you are using them. If you are using whole chicken cut it in to medium size pieces, wash it and keep it aside. Heat 4tbsp of oil in pot/thick bottom non stick pan. Add onion and green chili and saute them till they are nice and transparent. Then add turmeric, ginger garlic paste, coriander seeds grind mixture, garam masala, red chili powder and mix well. Cook till the raw smell of ginger garlic paste goes away. Now add in al the chicken and mix well. Add 1cup of water and mix well. Cook this mixture under high flame for 10min and medium flame for 10 min while stirring in between. Then add tomatoes, yogurt and salt. Mix well and cook under medium flame till all chicken is well cooked. Check for taste and adjust it. If it is too spicy then add 2tbsp of lemon jucie. Finally garnish with cilantro and serve hot with bagara/pulav/rice/roti. Hope you like my recipe. If you are making this curry in a mud pot after turning off the flame the curry will still cook for about 5min because of the heat inside the pot, so you better take out the curry immediately in to serving bowl.

Enjoy natu kodi koora. I got my compliments from my hubby, now its your turn this curry and receive compliments from your loved ones and please do come back to my blog and leave a comment.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sweet potatoes are the excellent source of vitamins and nutrients. These sweet potatoes come in several different varieties viz yellow, Orange & purple etc., Orange sweet potato is some times called as Yam in North America. While browsing in the Internet I found out that it serves as a great food for the type-2 diabetes patients. It will induce the production of insulin to certain extent. Apart from this it contains fiber which is a major health beneficiary. CLICK HERE TO VIEW CALORIE CHART

In India sweet potatoes are had during the long fasting hours for instant energy. In villages I remember my grand mother used to grill them on a direct flame, and later serve by removing the skin and seasoned with salt. These are cooked in many different varieties all over the world. I am presenting you the little Indianised version of a puff pastry.

Method
Cook sweet potato with little salt. Peal skin and mash it. Now heat 2tbsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they splatter add onion,curry leaf, salt, pepper powder, chat masala and green chili. When they are cooked finely add mashed sweet potato and mix well. Then add lemon juice and mix well. Turn off the stove and let the mixture come to room temperature.

Take the pastry sheet out of the pack and wait till it comes to room temperature. Unroll the pastry sheet and cut it into six equal pieces. Place the curry in every sheet and close it. Pre heat the oven to 400F. Mean while place the puffs in the refrigerator for 5min and bake for 20-25min. Till puffs are golden brown. Enjoy these puffs with tomato sauce.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Please do not make faces after reading the title!!! What you are reading is exactly the one that I made. You have to believe me this is the real wonderful curry that I never know before, and I regret for not knowing it before. Once you taste this curry, you are not going to leave it. You will make it again and again. :):):):)All curries are tested on my hubby & myself and they are presented to you all through this blog. They are 100% safe :):):):). now jokes apart and here is the recipe.

Method
Peal and deseed mango. Cut into pieces and add 1cup of water and cook for about 10min under medium to high flame by adding 1/4tbsp of salt. Mean while dry roast the cumin and fenugreek(methi) seeds together and add to mixie jar. To the jar also add grated coconut, green chili, red chili, garlic and 1/4cup onion and grind it to a smooth paste by adding little water if required. When the mango is ready mash it if you do not wish to have them as it is. After mashing cook this on slow flame and add grinded mixture to it and cook it till the raw flavor of onion vanishes. Then take yogurt in a bowl and bet it well, then add 2tbsp of water to it and mix well. add this to the mango curry. Check for salt add if required. Now prepare the tempering for the curry, Heat 2tbsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and red chili.when they are done pour this on to the mango curry and mix well. Here is your ripe mango kadai ready. You can have this with kichidi, roti or rice.

Monday, January 16, 2012

OMG!! Was it really me who made this wonderful bonda. I was just browsing through the Internet for some special kind of instant and filling recipes,this time deep fry food are an excuse since we did not have any deep fried food from few weeks. I never thought making of Mysore bonda was this much easier, until I find this recipe. Here is the wonderful recipe of instant Mysore bonda.

Method
Mix all the ingredients mentioned above in a large bowl except butter milk. When all are throughly combined, then add butter milk and mix well. The consistency of the batter should be little thick. Heat oil in a pan. Take small bowl full of water, dip your hand into water every time you take a dough in to your hand. This way your dough will not stick to your hand and we can obtain the bonda with smooth finishing. Take one lemon size batter in your hand and with the help of thumb push it to the edge of your fingers and drop it into oil. Fry them till they are golden brown on all sides under medium flame. If you keep flame on high only outer part gets cooked and inner remains raw. Take them out of the pan when they are done and serve hot with sambar and coconut chutney. Hope you like my recipe.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Bread is obviously every ones favorite base for making many different kind of recipes. Bread pakoda is a very crunchy appetizer, you can add more magic to this recipe by adding little freshly made salad to this and enjoy your evenings with a cup of tea.

Method
Take the besin flour in a bowl and add ajwain, salt and red chili powder and mix with water. The consistency should be very little thick. Now take the bread slices and cut them diagonally, forming 2 triangles from each slice and dip the slice in the batter and deep fry them under medium flame in oil. Take them out when both sides are golden brown.

Now mix all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Take 1tbsp of this salad/chat and garnish on the top of each bread pakoda and enjoy with s cup of tea. The lemon and chat masala in the salad gives a different taste with the crispy bite of pakoda. we loved it and we wish that you love it too!!!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Soya chunks works wonderful when you like to have something different kind of vegetable biryani. Just throw in few cooked soya chunks in the curry you make for vegetable biryani and there you go!!! yummy biryani is ready, which is healthy too!!!

Method:
Wash and soak basmati rice in 5cups of water. Add 1tbsp of salt and cook until 80% done. Take a large skillet and heat 2tbsp of oil and 1tbsp of butter. Then add cumin seeds and when they start splattering add Clove, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaf. Add onion, soy chunks and green chili cook till they become transparent. Add ginger garlic paste and turmeric. When they are well cooked, add all the vegetables and saute them. Cover the skillet and cook till all vegetables are 70% cooked. Then add yogurt/curd, cumin powder, coriander powder & garam masala. Mix them all and cook well. Add salt to taste and cook till all vegetables are cooked well. Finally add cilantro and mint leaves and cook till raw flavor goes away.
Arrange rice and curry layers alternatively in a large thick pan and cook under medium flame till the rice is well cooked.

When the rice is done, Serve hot with raita/ mirchi ka salan. you can find these recipes in my blog. trust me it will taste awesome, I just sqeezed little tomato juice on top and had it hot hot!!!!!!!
hope you like it too!!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Bread is the best base to try any kind of recipe with it! I already made bread omlet, sandwich and bread curry. Now it is time to make a crispy and yummy snack with it, this is fabulous appetizer for kids. We loved it, hope you love it too!!!

Method
Add thrice volume of water to potato, cabbage and carrot grated mixture. Boil it and strain it. If possible add this mixture to the kitchen towel and wait till all the water is drained out. Later add green chili and salt. Mix well. Then take a small lemon size mixture in your hand and roll it like a ball. Put this mixture at the center of bread( make sure you remove the brown edges) along the length wise then roll it cut it to the center and fry it till it turns golden brown under medium flame. Drain it in a paper towel and enjoy with sauce. Hope you like my recipe, please leave your comments while you leave.